


O, Dear My Lord...

by Kaylee no Valerian (KayleeArafinwiel)



Series: Anafiel's Book of Poems [1]
Category: Kushiel's Legacy - Jacqueline Carey
Genre: Erotic Poetry, Love Poem, M/M, Prose Poem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 04:29:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6939835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KayleeArafinwiel/pseuds/Kaylee%20no%20Valerian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened, in the Terre D'Ange that Lay Beyond, when Anafiel Delaunay was reunited with *both* his lovers?</p>
            </blockquote>





	O, Dear My Lord...

**Author's Note:**

> Based on, and interspersed with, Anafiel's poem written for Prince Rolande, which I disclaim in its entirety. The rest is mine.

_O, dear my lord..._

Dark eyes stared up into deep blue, a bright light suffusing the face before him. Black hair framed the blue eyes, and a spark flew through them both, a lock of snowy hair sliding through deft fingers as the younger man tried to undo the knot tightening in his chest.

_  
Let this breast on which you have leant_

He knew who faced him. With that colouring, he could have been a Shahrizai. But no – this vision of beautiful cruelty, shining and glorious, was no Shahrizai. “My lord…”

_  
As close in love as a foe in battle,_

For battle it had been. He remembered it all – _they_ remembered it all, though ‘all’ for them was rather different; still, the blood was the same in essence. Blood flowing from the pierced flesh of one with lush red hair, soft as silk, quick grey eyes that saw everything, _everything,_ seen and unseen; that rich laugh they both knew and missed. But once he had cheated death. The second time…

_  
Unarmed, unarmored, grappling chest to chest,_

Circling each other on the verdant lawn, the two men reached for blades that weren’t there before launching themselves at one another. It seemed right, somehow, that they should fight for the honour of one they both loved, even if such fighting would come to naught, the end a foregone conclusion.

_  
Alone in the glade_

In _this_ glade, they were alone together – and yet not, for _his_ face and voice and thoughts filled their minds as one.

_  
Where birds started at our voices,_

Birds sang here, and they seemed to pay no heed to the two men wrestling on the ground, as they stripped and held each other close, the heat of their bodies stirring something inside them.

_  
Laughter winging airborne, we struggled_

They struggled, oh yes – but in the end, Rolande thought it would come to rather the same result as a night in Tiberium, so long ago.

_  
For advantage, neither giving quarter;_

So this was Delaunay’s lover – both of them thought, and neither wished to give him up, though neither noticed the entrance of the object of their desires.

_  
How I remember your arms beneath my grip,_

Rolande remembered the last night he and Anafiel had made love.

Alcuin remembered the first.

_  
Sliding like marble slickened;_

Alcuin’s hair, white as snow, splayed over Rolande’s chest as he fell, sprawling, limp and weak. The Dauphin was too much for him.

_  
Your chest pressed to mine_

Rolande’s chest met Alcuin’s, only a curtain of white hair between them.

_  
Heaving;_

They were breathing hard as they struggled to their feet together, clasped in each other’s embrace. Daring, Alcuin pressed his lips to Rolande’s.

_  
As our feet trampled the tender grass_

Anafiel moved closer, watching, eyes filled with longing. He knew what this meant, to see them together. He had known, as he lay there bleeding – but now his breast was as bloodless as Alcuin’s, and even Rolande’s.

_  
Your eyes narrowed with tender cunning_

“Rolande. Alcuin.”

_  
And I unaware_

They had not seen him. Anafiel smiled slightly as the kiss broke and they stumbled apart.

_  
Until your heel caught my knee; I buckled,_

They fell, but before Anafiel could decide which one to catch, Rolande grabbed Alcuin’s hand.

_  
Falling,_

He fell across Alcuin, this time, and Anafiel knelt by them both. Their clothes had gone _somewhere,_ he supposed, but in this place they were unneeded, and so they were no longer present.

_  
Vanquished, O sovereign adored,_

Rolande had been vanquished. By Anafiel – by Alcuin.

_  
To be pierced ecstatic by the shaft of victory;_

It was Anafiel who took Rolande first – but he let Alcuin have him, as well. His beautiful boy, who needed him so. The three of them needed each other.

_  
Sweet the pain of losing,_

They had lost. They had all lost. But now, together, they had won, Anafiel supposed at last.

_  
Sweeter this second struggle..._

He strove to satisfy both his lovers, and heard Rolande laugh. “My Antinous.”

  
  
_O, dear my lord,_

“Rolande…”

_  
Let this breast on which you have leant_

“I am here, Anafiel. We shall never be divided again – and nor shall we leave your beautiful boy, I should think.”

_  
Serve now as your shield._

“I’m here, my lord.”

“I know, Alcuin.” The kiss Anafiel shared with Alcuin was tender and sweet. Together, in the Terre D’Ange that lay Beyond, they were _home_.


End file.
